On Jan. 1, 1938, Cal secured its second Rose Bowl victory with a 13-0 shutout of Alabama.

Ten weeks later, on March 14, Spike Dykes, a man who would later become a legendary head football coach at Texas Tech, was born.

Sonny Dykes has always known his father's birthday. But it took him until the tail end of 2012 to learn the first date - the last time the Golden Bears won the prestigious postseason game.

"Before I took the job, I didn't know it had been that long since they won a Rose Bowl," said Dykes, who was hired by Cal in December. "I knew they had good teams, and I assumed they had won it more recently. I was surprised, but at the same time, it's exciting to be someplace where your fans are hungry. They are hungry to get back to the Rose Bowl here."

Nearly nine months after becoming the 33rd head coach in school history, Dykes doesn't have his players hungry.

He has them starving.

"We don't want to wait," said sophomore wide receiver Chris Harper, the team's top returning receiver. "We want to go to the Rose Bowl this season."

"We" is a common word heard around Memorial Stadium these days. Even when junior linebacker Nick Forbes was asked about his personal goals, he dodged the question and provided a team-oriented response.

"My goal is to do anything and everything I can to help this team win games and get to the Rose Bowl," he said. "Outsiders would say we have very ambitious goals, but with these coaches and the talent we have, we feel we can be very successful this year."

Ambitious is right.

Not only has it been 75 years since the Bears have won a Rose Bowl, it has been 54 years since Cal has played in one.

The lack of success is puzzling, especially because Cal consistently boasts NFL-caliber players. There currently are over 40 former Golden Bears on NFL preseason rosters. Although the program has made its fair share of bowl games, the talent has not translated into championships.

Some current players said teams in the past may have lacked chemistry.

But things are changing with Dykes at the helm, they said.

"There is a lot more appreciation for each other now," said Forbes, who spent three seasons under former head coach Jeff Tedford. "It comes from having a coaching staff that really cares about us, and it's definitely translating to a closer team on and off the field. The outliers are few and far between."

Added Harper: "Nobody is being selfish anymore, and I think we are a lot closer now. I can tell by the attitude everyone has now. Everyone is willing to do whatever it takes to help the team."

Instilling a team-first culture was Dykes' first coaching task when he arrived in Berkeley, and he and his assistants have made strides.

"We have a group of guys that are in coaching for the right reasons," Dykes said of his staff, all of whom he brought with him from Louisiana Tech, where he was the head coach from 2010 to 2012. "We have a good vibe, we work together well, and we care about our players and want to have a positive impact on their lives. That permeates to your players, and I think they have a great relationship with each other now because they see that we work together well and we care about them."

As for an immediate Rose Bowl appearance, Dykes makes no guarantees. He does, however, think the pieces are in place to eventually compete not only for conference championships, but national championships as well.

"As a coach, all you want is a chance to win it all from a resources standpoint and a support standpoint, and I think we have that here," Dykes said. "We are the No. 1 public university in the world, and we have great facilities. It's a beautiful place to live, and there is a tremendous commitment to being successful from our administration. We have all the stuff you need to compete at the highest level."

So what can be expected of the Bears in 2013?

One thing is certain, Dykes said - Cal will be fun to watch.

"We are an exciting brand of football," Dykes said. "We are going to put the ball in the air and score points. We are going to play fast and think outside the box. Hopefully that translates to a lot of fun for fans in Memorial Stadium on Saturdays."

The Bears will run the Air Raid offense - now dubbed the Bear Raid. With the help of offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, who also came to Cal from Louisiana Tech, Dykes coached an explosive offense last season that led the country in points per game (51.5) and ranked second in yards per game (577.9).

Dykes isn't sure if his first Cal team will put up the same numbers. He is more focused on instilling Phase 2 of his culture - playing hard every snap.

"I just want us to compete every Saturday and play hard for 60 minutes," Dykes said. "That's something you have to teach your guys how to do. Whatever is going on in the game, we have to get 11 guys to play hard and play for each other every single play.

"Right now, we just want to maximize our talent. How many wins that is, I don't know. It's hard to say. I don't know how we compare to the rest of the league yet. I just want us to play as well as we're capable of playing, and I think if we do that, we have a chance to be a pretty good football team."